Me & My Pals
Click on the pic to see more from the La Pena show that evening. (Photos courtesy of Jonathon Hunt.)

That's Brian Carlisle, fiddler & mandolinst extraordinaire, on the left and Crazy Amanda Casa Bianca, all-purpose freak and caterwaller, center. Here we are getting ploughed at the Plough just before a very earnest show in front of a bunch of Communists. Brian is probably flipping off the camera out of frame. Click on the links below to see some of my other friends and/or their/our haunts.

The Pickin Trix Down home duo from Oakland--at once witty, bawdy & hep to the jive. Sometimes sociopolitical, sometimes silly, sometimes haunting and melancholy, they are a veritable and quintessential tour de force, a heart shaped, bittersweet fruit of compelling subteley and emotional complexity with a fragrance reminiscent of the new car smell from a 1956 Chevy Belair.
Jason Webley What can I say? Go to the site and see for yourself. Better yet, hear it. All his songs are up there. The man is a genius. We're talking T.S. Elliot with an accordion here. During one of the off nights during one of his many west coast tours, I cajoled him into open mic at the Plough. In just two numbers he had the entire bar--with the exception of the poor, solitary barkeep--singing and swaying shoulder to shoulder in a circle around him as he belted out his "Drinking Song".
The Plough If you are sober enough to answer one of the open mic trivia questions, the free beer you receive as a reward should help fix that.
The Dork--I Mean Stork It does actually get more punk rock than this, but Gilman St. doesn't serve drinks.

The Den This is where I go after the show.
Rock & Roll Vacation A necessary pilgrimmage (along with New Orleans) for all American musicians.